


One a Year

by linasane



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-17
Updated: 2014-05-17
Packaged: 2018-01-25 11:52:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1647680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linasane/pseuds/linasane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Castiel fears he will always be alone, and his best friend tries to convince him otherwise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One a Year

It starts when they’re fifteen.

Castiel’s lying in bed reading when suddenly he hears a knock, and a grinning face appears outside his bedroom window (quite a feat, considering he’s on the second floor).  He rolls his eyes as he sets his book aside and goes to open it.

“You know, Dean,” he says, “We do have a front door.”

His best friend grins as he crawls inside.  “Yeah, man,” he says, straightening up, “But it’s so much cooler to climb up here.  Makes me feel like Batman or something.”

Cas just laughs as he walks back over to his bed, “You’re ridiculous.”

Dean blinks innocently as he plops down beside his friend.  “I’m adorable,” he corrects.

Cas rolls his eyes yet again and decides a change of subject is in order. “So how’d it go?” he asks.

“It was good,” Dean shrugs, “Dinner and a movie, kissed her at the door, the whole thing, you know?  Cassie’s a cool chick.”

Castiel listens as his best friend describes his most recent date.  He does his best to nod and make the appropriate comments, but his mind isn’t on anything his friend’s saying.  It’s gotten harder and harder lately to ignore the fact that while Dean gets goodbye kisses with a different girl every week, Cas has yet to even be out on a date.

It’s not that he’s unhappy with his life or anything – he’s got his friends and he’s got his school work – and he probably wouldn’t even have time for dating at this point, but sometimes he just longs for that physical comfort of having someone to hold.

Wrapped up in his thoughts, Castiel doesn’t even realize he’s let out a heavy sigh until Dean stops talking and turns to look at him, concerned.

“Hey,” he says, pulling Cas out of his own head, “What’s up?”

The other boy just shakes his head, “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing, Cas,” Dean says, “Seriously, you’ve been listening to me ramble on all this time, tell me what’s up with you.”

Cas shakes his head again, but Dean just stares him down.  Finally Cas relents, flopping back onto the mattress and throwing an arm over his face, embarrassed.

“It just…” he says, voice muffled by his arm, “You go on dates with all these girls, and I’ve never even been on _one_.”

“Dude,” Dean says, gently, tugging Cas’s arm away, “Why are you even worried about this?”

“I don’t know.  It’s stupid.  I just –” he sits up, frustrated, “I’m fifteen years old and I’ve never kissed a girl, or gone out on a date, or...anything!  I know it’s stupid and I know I’m focused on school and–”

He cuts off abruptly when Dean leans over and kisses him, a quick press of lips.  He stares at his friend, shocked.

Dean just shrugs at him, “Now you have.”

Cas doesn’t know what to stay, so he just keeps staring.  Eventually Dean gets up off the bed.

“Well it’s late, and I should probably head out,” he says as he walks toward the window.  He’s halfway back out when he stops and turns back to his friend. “For what it’s worth, I’m sure you’ll get some action before next year,” he says, smiling as he ducks out the window and drops out of sight.

* * *

Castiel doesn’t get any action in the next year.

In fact, a year later finds him in the same place, sitting in bed with a book in his hands.  He hears the rumble of an engine outside, and seconds later his phone buzzes on his bedside table.  He sets down his book and picks it up.

_Dean: Dude come outside._

A few minutes later Cas is sliding into the passenger seat of his best friend’s beloved Impala.

“What,” he says, “No more being Batman and climbing through the window?”

Dean chuckles as he pulls out onto the road, “Dude, this is better.  It’s the _Batmobile_!”

They’re still laughing when they pull up at the nearby lake.  Lately they haven’t had much time to hang out, but when they do, this is where they go.  The two teens clamber out of the car and end up sitting together on a blanket on the hood, leaning back against the windshield to look up at the stars.  They don’t talk for a while, just sitting together in comfortable silence.

Eventually, Cas is the one to break it. “So how’s Lisa?” he asks.  She and Dean have been dating for a few months now – his longest relationship to date.

“I, uh,” Dean fidgets uncomfortable next to him, “We actually, kindof, um, broke up.”

“What happened?”

“I dunno, man.  It just wasn’t working out.”

“Oh,” Castiel says, for lack of anything else, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Dean rubs a hand across the back of his neck uncomfortably, “Enough about me, dude.  What’s up with you?  Any girls?”

Cas sighs, “Nope.  Just me and my schoolwork, as usual.  Anna suggested that I just give up now and start buying cats.”

“Nah, man,” Dean says, reaching up to give his friend’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze, “You’re awesome.  You just gotta let the girls at school see that.”

Castiel turns to his friend and gives him a small smile, “Thank you, Dean.”

Dean just grins and shoves at Cas playfully before he slides off the front of the car, “Come on, buddy, enough of the chick flick moments.  Let’s head back.”

They fold up the blanket and climb into the car, chatting about anything and everything until they get back to Cas’s house.  He moves to get out of the car, but turns back when Dean puts a hand on his shoulder.

That hand slides to Castiel’s neck before Dean pulls him in and kisses him.  It’s longer than their first kiss, but just as chaste.  Dean’s face is flushed when they pull back.

“To, uh, to hold you over.  You’ll find a girl before next year, though, I know it.”

The corners of Cas’s mouth quirk up as he leaves the car, and he’s still smiling when he falls back into bed.

* * *

This strange ritual continues for the next few years.  Every year, Dean gives Cas a kiss and tells him not to worry, that he’ll have a girlfriend by next year.  And every year, Cas still ends up alone.

The only exception is when they’re eighteen and the two of them end up at a New Year’s party.  Cas finds himself pinned to a wall, well before midnight, at the mercy of Meg Masters as she basically assaults his mouth…and not in a good way.  He eventually escapes in time to watch the ball drop with his best friend, but Dean doesn’t kiss him that year.  They don’t talk about it.

* * *

Cas comes out to Dean their Sophomore year of college.

They don’t see each other as much anymore, going to separate universities, but they do manage to stay in touch and spend most of their breaks hanging out together.  It’s during their winter break that they’re sitting in Cas’s room, talking about their lives, and Dean leans in, only to have Cas stop him.

“Dean,” he says, eyes scanning his friend’s face for his reaction, “I’m, um…I’m gay.”

“Oh,” Dean says, “Okay.”  He leans in to press a quick kiss to Castiel’s lips.  “You’ll have a guy by next year, Cas,” he says with a smile.

* * *

The thing is, Castiel’s realization that he’s attracted to men came with a simultaneous realization that he’s interested in one man in particular: Dean.  Straight, ladies man Dean.  His _best friend_ Dean.  Totally not gonna happen Dean.  But he’s made his peace with that.  And he looks forward to those kisses all year.

The tradition continues throughout college, and the summer after Senior year finds them back at the lake, perched on the front of Dean’s car.

“Holy shit,” Dean says, staring up at the stars, “We graduated.  Dude, we’re _done_.”

Castiel just nods, a small smile on his face.  As excited as he is to have graduated, real life is suddenly looming up in front of him, and it’s terrifying.

Dean must read the anxiety on his friend’s face because his joyous expression softens into concern as he asks Cas what’s wrong.

“It’s just that, aren’t you scared at all?” Cas asks, “I mean, we have no idea what we’re doing at this point, no idea where we’re gonna be a week, a month, a year from now.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Cas!” Dean says, laying a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “It’s gonna be okay.  I mean, shit, you’re a freaking genius man.  All you have to do is figure out what you want and go for it, and you’ll get it, okay?”

Castiel is surprised by how quickly the other man’s words quell the anxiety building in his chest, the hand on his shoulder a grounding touch.  He nods, “Okay.”

There’s a moment where they both just sit there, staring at each other, before Cas speaks again.

“What about you, Dean,” he asks, “Are you going to go for what you want?”

A strange look flashes across Dean’s face before it morphs into something Castiel can only call determination.

Then suddenly there’s a hand sliding around to the back of his neck and Dean is pulling him into a kiss.

It’s different from all the ones before, open-mouthed and hot where the other ones were brief and chaste.  When they pull back, Cas is breathless and very, very confused.

“Wha’?” is all he manages to get out.

Dean just shrugs, “I figured it’s about time I go for what I want.”

Cas is still staring at him, wide eyed, “But you never said anything.”

Dean laughs and swipes a hand down his face.  “Cas,” he says, “Why the hell did you think I kissed you every year?  I mean, I know you can be out of the loop sometimes, but people don’t exactly just go around kissing their friends all that often.”

And Cas has no idea what to say to that, so he just brings his hand up to cup Dean’s face and leans in to kiss him again.

Later, they’re back lounging against the windshield, but now Dean has his arm around Castiel’s shoulders and Cas is curled into Dean’s chest.

“Is this the part where you tell me I’ll have a guy by this time next year?” Cas asks.

“Nope,” Dean grins and leans in to kiss Cas again, holding him close, “This time next year you’ll still have me.”


End file.
